2yrs old, speech mostly vowel sounds,is it because of the dummy?

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Saw a friend and her baby at weekend, havent seen them for about 6months.Baby still very much a baby, very small, but I think what made her seem 'babyish' was that she has a dummy in nearly all the time, and when she does speak it's mostly vowel sounds, not proper words. I'm sure it's the dummy - wouldn't dream of saying anything to my friend but I was a bit shocked. I've heard people say dummies impede speech but I've never had any experience of it before.

Agree totalchaos, but how long you have to wait depends on where you live. Where I used to work we had to see everyone for an initial appt within 6 weeks of acknowleging the referral. I know it's not like this everywhere though.

Waiting list in my area is 10/11 months! And only HV/GP are allowed to refer, not parents, which meant that couldn't get DS a referral till he was nearly 3. I was first concerned at 2.3. Correct as it turns out

DS1 had dummy till he was 4 and is excellent clear speaker. DS2 never had one, wouldn't ever have a dummy and was breastfed until he was 10 months old and went onto a cup. He is 11 now and still doesn't pronounce all of his words clearly. Especially he has a bit of a lisp. At least I can say for sure it wasn't the dummy!

i would say not to worry too much at this stage as also you don't know what shes like in her home environment. i had people comment to me about dds 'lack of speech' while we were out, the truth being she was a bloody chatter box at home and could hold full conversations at 2 but is so shy that whilst out she would barely utter a word!

if the mother brings it up maybe suggest she talks to her gp about hearing loss due to lack of constanants (sp?) or removes the dummy during the day as she isn't making the right shpes to make the right noises iykwim.

To be fair to myself, dummy for was for sleeps only as he got older. But he loved it so much I think he would still have it now (nearly 15) if I'd let him lol

totalchaos - hope you're getting what you need now for your ds. Shame your hv didn't listen - I've found that parents' instincts are usually right.

As some are saying - BIG difference between dummy for sleeping and walking around with it all day.

KTNoo -nope! got to wait till Jan/Feb 2008 for joint clinic appointmnet -SALT/paed etc (but only get sent out appointment the month before). Which makes DS 3.10/3.11 by the time he gets seen. Have had to resort to a private SALT assessment and advice in the meantime, but it's pricey, and doesn't really help with sorting out support for school.

Poor you - that's rubbish. Not enough SALTs.

Will you get to see the private therapist soon? You should get advice from him/her on how to help at home. Obviously it depends on your ds' difficulties and some areas seem to favour more of a team approach.

Is it a straightforward language delay or do you not know yet?

well in my dd2's case - that would be a load of bollocks - she is almost 3 and had a dummy up until she was about 2 1/2. Her range of vocab and her level of speech development is far in advance of the regular 2 - 3 yo.

I have noticed as hula said - there is a vast range amongst children even those from 4 -5 yo who I see at my daughter's kindy. The level of vocab and speech development is as individual as each child.

To blame a dummy is rather excessive - it could be anything - hearing issues - she may not be hearing the sounds clearly. Dd1 had unclear speech due to hearing issues - when she had grommets put in and her hearing was sorted her pronunciation improved out of sight.

It could be that is just where she is at developmentally.

Do think that's a very good point - she might just talk less out and more at home where she feels comfortable? Of course there might be a problem too - could you drop hints very subtly to open the door for conversation about it if the mum wants to have one? You could talk around the subject without saying anything direct and see if she wants to talk about it?

Weirdly my ds has made a sudden jump literally yesterday with his talking. He still is unclear a lot but has suddenly improved loads and his level of confidence seems to have changed - more words, a couple more consonants and more clarity in what he is saying. I still definitely need to keep an eye on it - lots of garbled stuff too still- but it is great to see some progress. Has anyone else had this sudden leap - I know there is this thing about a vocabulary spurt but this is different - like somehow when he was at nursery yesterday he thought 'oh these other kids talk more, ah that's how it all works!'

my son also has delayed speech and has a dummy at night and sometimes through day but not often he is now 2.4 but hv said it wasn't the dummy and he is advanced in other areas so he is just concentrating on that first before speech

but at 2 you dont need to be talking in sentences to be normal as lomng as say odd words rest will come in own time dont concern yourself with her child

my son will be starting salt in 2 weeks but its good to know its not something i have done wrong he just chose to learn other things first he knows his numbers and alphabet but will not have a conversation with me so i know he can do it but salt will help i hope

DS has never had a dummy yet his speech is delayed. Makes mainly vowel sounds like he can;'t be bothered to make shapes with his mouth!!!! He is getting there slowly but surely!!!

My DDs speech didnt take off until about 2.3
She never used a dummy.

Everyone commented on it which not only upset me but I am sure affected her confidence when it came to first words.

I suggest you give it a bit more time. If you decide to say anything to your friend then do so ut of the LOs earshot as they do understand what we are saying.

Great to hear about your ds progressing boo64.

Obviously so many possible reasons for speech/language/communication difficulties. Hearing difficulties do need to be ruled out but actually most of the kids I treated did not have hearing problems. If other areas of development are fine, it's just that some people are not so well wired for language. If a child is predisposed to these problems then you add in a dummy all day long, I believe this could make a difference.

Great to hear about your ds progressing boo64.

Obviously so many possible reasons for speech/language/communication difficulties. Hearing difficulties do need to be ruled out but actually most of the kids I treated did not have hearing problems. If other areas of development are fine, it's just that some people are not so well wired for language. If a child is predisposed to these problems then you add in a dummy all day long, I believe this could make a difference.